As I was the one who started the breakfast thread on GC under the guise of the legendary Cuthbert Odwyn, I would like to take this opportunity to bring up another of my favorite subjects.
Soup.
For two years now our family has had a Soup Fest. Everyone brings a pot of soup and a loaf of homemade bread.
I love a good soup.
What is everyone’s favorite home made soup?
Are you a “stuff” eater or a broth eater or both?
What kind of bread do you like with your soup if any?
I’m not an avid soup eater, but I do cook primarily one-dish meals, so I do occasionally make a batch of soup – never broth, always a meal-in-a-soup.
I probably eat more hot-and-sour soup than any other kind. Whenever my wife or I have a cold, I make 3 quarts or so. I begin with chicken stock or broth, put whatever’s at hand in it, usually some or all of: tofu, shiitakes, scallions, onions, pork, chicken. Spiced with Thai or Hunan chiles, white pepper, and rice vinegar, thickened with corn starch, and with a little soy sauce. Served over noodles.
My favorite soup is probably black bean, served either with bread or over rice. My favorite bread is made with spent brewing grain. I usually do 2:1 white to either whole wheat or rye flour, 1.25 c each milk and water, some molasses or malt extract, and 2 c of grain husks. It’s always dense and moist.
My wife’s favorite soup is phoc (pronounced fuh, Vietnamese beef noodle soup). I keep beef bones in the freezer, and whenever we have 5 pounds or so, make a batch of broth, usually spiked with a few bouillon cubes. Get some sort of Oriental noodles (wheat, rice, or bean), put them in the bottom of a deep bowl, put some shaved rare or raw beef on them, and then pour broth over the whole thing. Serve with sliced chiles, limes, mint, cilantro, bean sprouts, or anything else that strikes your fancy.
Another bread I make occasionally is Russian pumpernickel. IIRC, it has coffee, onions, and vinegar in it. Best if you can find dary rye flour, which I haven’t seen in years. Very strongly flavored and rich. Kinda the stout of the bread family.
Soup in summer?
Absolutely!!! Especially of the cold kind (like a “vichyssoise” or one of those fruit soups)
Love a good soup too! I like all kinds, broth or more elaborate. My favorites have to be potato/leek and split pea. As far as bread goes, I like a nice sourdough or a ciabatta.
Soup is good stuff. I generally prefer a nice thick sort of soup, but there are several exceptions. I can’t stand lentil soup or anything with a surplus of vegetables. I love bean soup, and tomato soup also. One of my favorites is chicken noodle soup with a couple handfuls of goldfish crackers in it. At college, it’s all about cup-o-noodles. I dont get much actual homemade soup because it takes too long.
Man, you guys just reminded me of one of my favorites that I don’t get anymore, and a sort of specialty in rural Akita Prefecture in Japan: nattō ramen. Add lotsa wakame seaweed (it’s like a firm spinach), hold the pickled ginger, please. I literally had to live on it during the summer when the school cafeteria was closed, and gained weight into the bargain.
My absolute, all-time favorite is peasant soup: vegetable stock (I use those little cubes), onions, turnips, parsnips, carrots, potatoes, celery–and lots of all of 'em–and four or so cups of water. When the veggies are tender I add a big can of crushed tomatoes and after that’s all cooked in for a bit I add just a bit of cinnamon and fresh parsley. With cornbread or some hearty whole grain something or other (torn, not sliced please), it’s a thing of beauty. Satisfying enough to make a whole meal, at a cost per serving of about 50 cents. Also wonderful pureed.
Carol
ya’ll are making me starving hungry. i’m with chas on the hot and sour soup but i add lemon juice with the rice vinager. i also like to serve it up with fresh copped “soup greens”,parsely, cilantro and scallions, floating on top.
last week i made a mighty soup, venison - vegetable. my S O is still talking about it.
please forgive me if i seem to bragg but i am a visionary cook, always surfing the outward peremeters of culinary reason and delight. i cook also as a deversion from whistles, pipes and sailboats.
Funny. I whistle as a diversion from cooking. Dispepsic and balding from an early age, I suffered horribly when my step father (he made me call him “Uncle”) forced me to cook. The dreary hours I spent in the kitchen, pealing roots and shaving truffles, sauteeing, deglazing, blanching… it defies telling. Now I won’t even go anywhere near food between meals, unless I am hungry.
LOL Bloomfield!
But it does seem like we somehow got from soup to nuts. 
the thought of good soup is very powerful
We’re big homemade soup eaters, and I make soup about once a week. Some of our favorites are:
Tomato corn chowder
Smoked lentil with wild rice
Sicilian chick pea and kale
Navy bean
Sopa de tortilla
I like my soup a little on the brothy side, but with nice big chunks of whatever veggies, etc., happen to be in there. Just about any bread will do, but we’re particularly fond of San Francisco sourdough (especially Boudin’s!) and potato rosemary.
Redwolf
Or the French consommé glacé
Or the Spanish gazpacho
Or the Russian okroshka
Or the Marxian duck soup
My favorite is lentil soup. We make a double batch because I like it the next day cold. With this my choice is homemade whole wheat bread. When I say homemade I mean first grind some wheat, etc. My second favorite soup is a vegetable soup which we make with whatever is on hand. I would probably have scones with this soup.
I have been only marginally able to check in for this last 2 weeks. My motherboard died. I replaced it and then found out that my new motherboard would not function correctly under windows 98. Now up and running on Windows XP.
Ron
My favorite is tortilla soup. Great soutwestern meal! It is my specialty dish with homemade tortilla chips. My secret is lots of garlic, cilantro, and the hottest peppers I can find! (Oh, and maybe some tequila!) 
That is the only soup that makes since for summer.
picardy
Garlic soup!
It’s more of a winter dish than summer, perhaps, but since that season is kicking in down here on the underside of the planet, it works well. It involves a good few bulbs of garlic, white wine and simmering for an hour. The last batch I made actually made me & housemate feel hyper-energetic for at least an hour - quite the rush!
whenever we have turkey or a leg of ham, when most of the meat is gone, my mom makes a big pot of soup out of it and potatoes and whatever kind of veggies we happen to have in the fridge at the moment. Good stuff. Beef stew is also a favorite. 
Uh…stew and soup are two different things.
Leek and potato soup:
Several russet potatoes (about 5-6), peeled and cut into chunks
A bunch of leeks, the greens and roots removed and the white part chopped up lengthwise, grit rinsed out
Some chicken broth to cover it all, not too much (the broth is only to cook the vegetables)
Salt, celery seed
Simmer it until everything is squishy, mash with a potato ricer but leave some chunks. Add some cream or half and half until it has a nice color.
Easy and always unbelievably good!
Put a pat of butter on top to serve…
Robin